Eye-protector.



P. H. REXTREW.

EYE PROTECTOR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 13,1914.

Llw wfim Patented Jan.5,191 5;

EYE-PRGTECTOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented d ain. 5, timid.

Applicationfiled July 13, 1914. Serial No. 850,612.

To all whom it may concern: 4

Be it known that I, F RANK HOWARD Rex- TREW, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Hammond, county of Lake, and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Eye-Protectors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to eye shields or protectors adapted to be worn upon the face and protect the eyes of the wearer, as from sunlight, wind and dust. Its objects are to provide an eye protector of the character mentioned through which the wearermay see readily and without'injury and annoyance from direct rays of the sun, in this respect the device comprising a combined eye protector and shade; to provide a. device of this kind which fits comfortably about the face of the wearer and does not become unsanitary through the absorption of perspiration, and one which may readily be cleaned;

to provide an eye shield or protector of peculiarly strong and rigid construction and adapted to last long in service; to provlde means for securin eye shields and the like comfortably and rmly upon the face of a wearer, and'mea/nswhereby the device may be held in various Ways according to the wearers desire, and also means peculiarly adapted to hold such a device upon the face of a woman.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification T have illustrated a preferred embodiment of a device by which the foregoing and other advantages are secured.

Figure 1 represents my combined eye protector and shade as it appears upon the wearers face, the latter being shown merely suggestively; Fig. 2 represents a face View of a strip of thin, flexible material, such as celluloid and the like, prior to having its end portions bent; Fig. 3 is a face view of a strip, preferably of similar material, .but of a darker shade or color from the protector proper, and adapted to be secured thereto; Fig. 4 is a side View of one form of the device complete, this form not having the section of Fig. 3 added thereto; Fig. 5 is a view showing one of the folding operations; Fig. 6 is a transverse section of the device of Fig. 1, as on the line 66 thereof; and Fig. 7 is. an endv view of the device of Fig. 1.'

The shield proper is formed preferably .of thin and flexible material: For the purpose of this description this material may be called transparent or substantially transparent, which is intended to denote broadly the property of permitting objects to be viewed therethrough. The material preferably employed by me is What is known as artificial ivory, celluloid, pyrolin, etc, and is made with various tints or colors, such as amber and green, and is also furnished clear, that is, untinted.

The protector proper comprises preferably a substantially rectangular piece 10 of the light and flexible material mentioned, and is preferably provided With a notch or recess, as 11, adapted to accommodate the nose of the wearer. The corners of the piece 10 are preferably rounded as at a: and 0, Fig- 2, so as to provide a rounded structure where the device contacts the face at about the temples of the wearer. Eye protectors of this kind are usually carried in the pocket of the wearer in a folded condition, that is, one end wall is bent down upon the main body portion and the opposite end portion is drawn over so as to encompass the first mentioned end, the device thus occupying small space and being susceptible of insertion in a comparatively small container. A notable objection to devices of this kind in which an end portion is notched or split and the material at the sides of such notch or cut folded one upon the other and secured together has been that the shield breaks or splits, beginning at the end of such notch or cut, when the device is repeatedly folded, the cut or notch in the material inducing splitting-like breakage where the cut or notch-terminates. T have overcome this objection by forming the protector proper With end portions thereof free of all folding cuts or notches. In my pre ferred form of the device the end portions 11 of the sheet 10 are folded twice, the first fold being preferably on the dotted line w-b, of Fig. 2, the point 0 coming to the point (Z, but preferably only that portion thereof from a to e is pressed down, as by the fingers of the operator. The left-hand end of Fig. 5 showsthis first folding operation. The next operation is in folding'the now pointed end portions, as 12, Fig. 5, toward the center of the sheet 10 until the point a. comes to the point d, the folded parts being pressed down on the: now coin=- ciding lines ef and ef. At the point at there are now three thicknesses of the material, not counting the main body portion 10, which would make four, and these three thicknesses are grasped as by a finger and thumb and turned back into the position shown for instance in Figs. 1 and l, that is, into their normal position as they appear in the figures illustrating the completed device. The three thicknesses of the material thus brought together are rigidly secured to each other, preferably by a small quantity of transparent cement applied to the parts, as at 13, Figs. 6 and 7, the cement beingat coinciding corner portions as shown in Fig. 2. I

t the outwardly projecting corner 1% of the completed device, where breakage heretofore has freely occurred, there is now a fold or double thickness of the material, the folding being on curved lines gradually merging into the more fiat surfaces of the main body portion about the same. This apex portion 14, owing to the doubling and bending of the material, is a very strong and rigid structure, and as the folding of the device to get the same into a smaller compass is lengthwise along the bending lines originally created at and about the point 14 the tendency of the device to break at this point is negligible. The device as a whole is unusually strong and durable.

Another notable objection to devices of this kind has been in the provision of fab- 85 ric, such as felt, around the edges thereof adapted to provide a softer and more comfortable contact of the shield with the face of the wearer. These fabrics objectionably absorb perspiration from the face of the wearer and are likely soon to become foul. To overcome this objection I have provided the binding 15 of rubber, preferably rubber tubing, which has been split longitudinally through one wall, the edge of the shield being inserted in the split portion of the rubber and there secured, as by means of cement. This construction provides not only a soft and pleasing contact with the face, but is free from the objection of absorption of perspiration and the accumulation of dirt, and not only the rubber but the entire device may be readily cleaned with soap and water. A further advantage of this construction is that the rubber affords a sense of coolness where it contacts the face quite distinct from the sense of warmth created by the fabric binding. A further and very important feature of improvement resides in the provision of an eye protecting device having a substantially clear portion and a relatively darker portion, the latter being adapted to prevent direct rays of the sun from striking the eyes from above, and also from the sides in some constructions of the device. The

or arrangement.

driver of an automobile or a pedestrian is frequently greatly annoyed by intense sunlight, and although this difiiculty has been partly overcome by the provision of eye shields which are made of amber or other colored material, such heretofore suggested means are not satisfactory for the reason that the lighter shades and tints of a suitable material do not eifectively overcome the objection and the darker shades do not permit objects to be viewed therethrough as clearly as is desired. In Fig. 1 I have shown an eye shield having the strip 16 of Fig. 3 inserted therein above the normal line of vision when the device is upon the face. This strip 16 is of relatively darker material than the portion 10, but it is preferably also transparent, permitting objects to be viewed therethrough and thus giving the wearer almost unobstructed vision through the device in all normal directions. Green, being restful to the eyes, is an excellent color for the shade portion 16, but I employ material of various colors and tints for both the body portion 10 and the shade portion 16, for instance a deep orange for the portion 16 and light amber for the portion 10. The strip 16 is preferably only slightly shorter than the main body 10, as illustrated, when it is desired to have the eyes of the wearer shaded at the sides; and in forming the device of Fig. 1 the strip 16 is laid upon the portion 10 lengthwise opposite the notch 12 and its ends folded between folded portions of the body 10, the folds of the shade 16 being on the dotted lines of Fig. 3, the folding of the body 10 being done as already described. The shade 16 is held by cement applied when the folded body portions are cemented together. This shade 16 may, however, extend only to the end walls of the complete device, thus leaving the vision clearer at the sides thereof, or it may be given other suitable shape The shade 16 is preferably on the inside of the completed device, that is, nearest to the face when in use, and lies very snugly and tightly against the portion 10, when the device is formed as described. The use of this combined shade and shield affords the wearer a very notable sense of comfort, and naturally contributes to safety as by its use the eyes are prevented from tiring so readily and confusion due to the bright high lights is avoided. Heretofore it has been rather difiicult for ladies to secure shields of this kind suitably upon the face, owing to the presence of hats or the fact that their coiifures are arranged abouttheir ears, thus preventing the use of the elastic ear loops 17 shown. I have overcome this difiiculty in the provision of a hook-like structure 18, suitably of light wire such as a hair pin, secured to a tape or cord upon the shield, or as illustrated, upon the niaaave loops 1?, the hook or hair engaging element 18 being adapted to be inserted in the ladys hair. I have also shown a smaller hook 19 on one of the loops 17 adapted to engage the loop 17 at the opposite end of the device when it is desired to hold the shield in place by passing the loops 17 back of the head. This arrangement permits the device to be secured upon the face of either a man or a woman quickly and to be as readily detached therefrom, and without the hitherto objectionable method of placing a continuous rubber band entirely over the head, disarranging the hair, particularly when the device is taken off. The loop's 17 are adapted to go around the ears in some uses of the device, as shown in Fig. 1.

While 1 have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of each of these several features of improvement, the invention is not limited to the exact means pictured, and notably with respect to the two-color or shade features of the invention, and with respect to the exact manner of folding the end portions of the single-piece eye shield. Reference should be had to the appended claims to determine the scope of my present invention, and all modifications are contemplated by me as fall within the scope of these claims.

I claim:

1. An eye protector comprising an oblong piece of flexible material having provisions at one side thereof intermediate its ends to accommodate the nose of the wearer, the end portions of said piece being of continuous formation, that is, free from a cut or notch, said end portions respectively being folded twice upon themselves to form a Wall a portion of which having three thicknesses of the material at each end of the device, means for holding the folded parts of the device in folded position, and means for holding the device upon the face of the wearer.

2. An eye protector comprising a substantially rectangular piece of flexible material having a nose recess in one side thereof intermediate its ends, the end portions of such piece being of continuous formation, that is, free from a cut or notch, said end portions respectively being folded twice upon themselves to form an end wall at each end of the device, there being three thicknesses of the material where folded, means for holding the folded parts of the end portions in folded position, and means for securing -the device upon the face of the wearer.

3. An eye protector comprising an oblong piece of thin' and flexiblematerial such as celluloid and the like, said piece having provisions at one side thereof to accommodate the nose of the wearer, each of the end portions of said piece having a corner portion thereof folded upon itself and the folded corner portion folded upon the adjacent corner portion, to form a Wall at each end of the devicefmeans for holding the folded parts in such folded position, and means for holding the device upon the face of the wearer.

4. In an eye protector, the combination of .a shield proper, an elastic loop at each end of said shield proper andadapted to pass around the ears of the wearer, and a hook on one of said elastic loops adapted to hook upon the other thereof when said loops are stretched and passed around the head of the wearer.

The combination of an eye shield and means for holding the shield upon the face of a Woman wearer, said means comprising an elastic element adapted to be attached to the eye shield, and means on said elastic element adapted to be inserted lockingly in the hair of the womans head.

6. The combination of an eye shield and means for holding the shield upon the face of a Woman wearer, said means comprising a flexible cord or tape adapted to be secured to the eye shield, and a hook-like device secured to said cord or tape and adapted to hook into the hair of the woman Wearers head.

7. In a device adapted to'be worn upon the face to protect the eyes, the combination of a portion formed of substantially transparent material and extending substantially from end to end of said device, and a portion .formed of greater light obstructing material, said substantially transparent portion being adapted to permit objects to be viewed plainly therethrough, said less transparent portion being adapted to shade the eyes of the wearer, said portions being secured together, and means for securing the device upon the face of a wearer.

8. 'In a device adapted to be worn upon the face and adapted to protect the eyes, the combination of a relatively clear portion and a relatively dark portion secured together adjacent to each other, each of said portions extending substantially from end to end of said device, said relatively clear portion being adapted to permit objects to be viewed therethrough, said relatively dark portion being adapted to shade the wearers eyes, and means for securing the device upon a wearers face. a

9. A combined eye protector and shade comprising in combination a protector proper of thin and flexible material adapted to fit about the wearers eyes and permit ob jects to be viewed clearly therethrough, and a shade portion of greater light-obstructing properties than said protector proper and positioned in the upper part of said protector proper, said shade portion extending substantially from end to end of said device,

adapted to contact the face of the wearer about the eyes, said deviceincluding a strip of relatively dark thin and flexible material secured thereto in the upper portion thereof,

and means for securing the device upon the wearers face.

12. A combined eye protector and shade comprising in combination a protector proper having a front portion of thin and flexible material adapted to extend substantially across the face and in front of the eyes of a wearer, said device having end portions of greater light-obstructing properties than said front portion, and means for holding the device upon a Wearers face.

FRANK HOWARD REXTREYV.

Witnesses:

lVLM. KnmsANn, MARY F. LINCOLN. 

